JEDDAH: Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the headquarters of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) here on Wednesday and expressed his satisfaction over the 57-member group’s increasing role on the world stage.
Addressing a press conference at the residence of OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Erdogan thanked the King Faisal Foundation for awarding him the prestigious King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam.
“I am proud of being selected for the King Faisal Prize and I thank the jury as well as the foundation’s officials and all others who nominated me for the prize,” the premier said, adding that the prize would increase his responsibility in promoting cultural dialogue. He highlighted the strong relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey. “I have discussed with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah ways of strengthening cooperation in the political, economic and commercial areas,” he said.
Erdogan noted the tremendous progress achieved by Saudi Arabia during the era of King Abdullah, especially in educational and economic fields. He urged Saudi investors to come and invest in Turkey’s telecom, health, energy, tourism and agricultural sectors.
He said the Turkish economy would experience tremendous growth in the coming decades.
Asked about Israel’s demand to hold direct talks with Syria, Erdogan said, “We are not a party to make a decision on this topic. It is up to Syria and Israel how to hold talks. Turkey mediated between the two countries upon their request. We had conducted five rounds of talks but those talks stopped when Israel attacked Gaza.” Referring to Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union, Erdogan said Turkey would not discard its principles and its brethren in the Islamic world once it joins the EU. “Turkey will not lean to either left or right and will not leave its values and principles during its continuous negotiations to join the European Union,” he added.
He said Turkey considered EU as a political, social and economic union, not as a religious union. “We take our decisions on the basis of just and humanitarian principles. We have been waiting for EU membership for the last 50 years. We joined the European Customs Union a long time ago and we are now waiting for acceptance on the political side,” he said.
